Women Have Balls, Maybe too Many!

by dawn billings
Filed under: Business for Women, HLN Spotlights, Marketing Tips, Networking

Hey Women Entrepreneurs, it’s Dawn Billings, founder of a women networking organization, The Heart Link Womens Network. Got balls? I bet you do and I bet you have become quite the juggler over the years.

I have met thousands of women entrepreneurs who are running themselves ragged as they attempt to juggle more balls than they feel they can possibly handle. See the look on the woman’s face in the picture – most of us in real life aren’t quite as enthusiastic about all the balls we are attempting to keep in the air.

There is no question women entrepreneurs have balls, women entrepreneurs are some of the most amazing people I know. It is not that they don’t have balls, it is they just don’t know what to do with them so they juggle and once they start, it is hard to know how or when to stop.

Instead of juggling all of their balls, women should catch a few of the brightest colored ones and slip them into their pockets for safe keeping. Marcus Buckingham, the author of Find Your Strongest Life believes that living a strong life is the opposite of juggling. According to Buckingham, “Juggling requires you to keep everything at bay, up in the air, away from you.”

It isn’t that women want to keep things at bay, it is there are so many responsibilities, so many obligations, that they feel they do not have a choice but to juggle, and juggle fast.

Maybe the secret to living a full, strong life is not about learning to juggle fast, but lies in knowing how to catch and capture a few of the balls that bring us the greatest pleasure. Women need to take a moment to examine which commitments and responsibilities bring us peace and enjoyment.

I know for me, I have a great commitment to better and bless the lives of women. It is an awesome responsibility but it brings me great pleasure as well. That is one of the balls I have chosen to catch and put in my pocket and hold it near. The joy of that responsibility strengthens me. When we keep those balls that represent responsibilities that bring us fulfillment and joy near, we can allow them to strengthen, encourage and empower us.

There are energizing and empowering moments in each aspect of your life, but you must learn to recognize them, capture them, treasure them and hold them to you. We must learn to stop keeping what grounds us, airborne. Instead we need to catch our moments, stick them in our pocket and hold on to them, allowing ourselves to follow their inspiration.

When I think of all the balls I try to juggle in my life, I am pretty clear about which balls I want to catch and keep close, and which balls I would love to let drop to the floor. It is easy for me to tell you the moments that empty me and the moments that fill me up.

Spending time with my children always fills me up.

Doing taxes always empties me.

Creating a new product that I think will help parents with their awesome responsibility of raising great kids always fills me up.

Whereas writing a business plan for marketing those products drains me in a hurry.

Sharing with and strengthen women in business fills my heart with joy,
wrestling with paperwork pins me to the mat.

I have a friend who loves accounting. She feels confident and excited around numbers. Numbers cause her to light up. Me, I feel sad and despondent when I have to balance my checkbook. I love self-help books. But science fiction books are the books that excite my friend.

Okay women, we all know what lights us up and what shuts us down. Maybe it’s time for us to pick our favorite balls and instead of juggling them, play catch instead?

Dawn L Billings is an the author of over 20 books and hundreds of articles on parenting, relationships, entitlement and networking, and an ardent advocate for women’s and children’s issues. Dawn is the CEO and Founder of The Heart Link Women’s Network, Trova Women Business Directory and Trova Small Business Directory and The Heart Alliance.com international women’s networking organizations and communities.